Ilika plc (LON:IKA) Chief Executive Officer Graeme Purdy caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss Goliath manufacturing scale-up with UKBIC and further government grants.
Q1: Graham, it’s great news about the successful demonstration of Ilika’s Goliath technology at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. Could you just explain for us the difference between the trials done there and the work that you’re doing on your pilot line?
A1: So, the group has a pilot line in order to initially develop the processes we use for making our Goliath solid-state batteries and that pilot line has a capacity of 1.5MWh per year.
Actually, the capacity at UKBIC, because of the sheer size of the equipment that has been installed there, is rough numbers, about 2MWh per year. So effectively, the equipment size is a thousand times bigger than the pilot line that we have.
This is really important because it means that we’ve demonstrated that the process that we’ve developed on our pilot line can be transferred into an industrially relevant platform that can then make these cells in commercial quantities.
Q2: So why should investors take comfort in this news?
A2: Well, they should take comfort in the news because it’s a really key step on the journey towards convincing potential licensees that our technology can be dropped into the context of their gigafactories that in many cases actually they’ve already committed to, and either are in the process of building or have built already.
That compatibility is key.
It’s a key differentiator actually of the Goliath technology relative to other solid-state batteries out there, which perhaps have been designed to use different materials, maybe moisture-sensitive materials or ones that need, close monitoring in order to make sure that they give the right quality and don’t actually yield any safety consequences for the workforce.
Q3: Is this work supported by a government grant?
A3: It is, that’s right. So, we are nearing the end actually of a grant that we refer to as the SiSTEM programme, which is an 18-month programme that started at the tail end of 2023. Actually, we received grant funding between all of the partners on the grant of £2.7 million and it’s from the Automotive Transformation Fund, which is a fund that was set up by the government to oversee really the transition of the automotive industry, support that transition from traditional vehicles through to EVs. It’s managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre and in that grant, we’re working together with Mpac and Agratas, which is the Tata Group’s global battery business, as well as UKBIC.
Q4: So, is the grant programme finished now?
A4: It’s not quite finished. It’s got another couple of months to go and there’s still some really important milestones that we’re going to be hitting over the remaining period of that grant.
Q5: Could investors expect any further grant support for Goliath, do you think?
A: Yes, I think so. In the autumn statements, we heard very clearly that this government is expecting to deploy £2 billion worth of grant support of funding to continue to support the transition from traditional vehicles to EVs. That will be deployed over a five-year period.
We’re expecting the front end of that funds deployment to be at the tail end of this calendar year so yes, we expect some further support for Ilika’s endeavours.
